Calceolaria have long been on my lust list, but everything I have read indicates the climate in New Jersey isn't right for it. If you don't mind I will ogle for awhile.

I've got one for this thread....

Wooly Blue Curls (Trichostema lanatum)

A SoCal native, in full bloom now in my garden. Hummer magnet, which looks like a very fancy salvia with leaves that look like rosemary herb. Does anyone know how to get seeds from this plant?? It's my first time growing it.

Wooly Blue Curls (Trichostema lanatum) requires smoke treatment to germinate. It is one of the first plants to pop up after a fire.

You might also want to try Caryopteris divaricata, which also puts out wonderful blue flowers.

Try the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley, California

Here is a link that might be useful: Theodore Payne Foundation

Jim, your Calceolaria is stunning! Think I saw this in the Wisley glasshouse 3 weeks ago! Looked so much like a Salvia until I saw the flowers!

Can I include the wonderful Lepechinia bella in this thread? Closely related to Salvias, this is stunning, true blue, long-flowering, border-line hardy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lepechinia bella

I second that! I saw it at Robin's last year; it's gorgeous and certainly OUGHT to be a salvia! Some other Lepechinias are nice, too, perhaps especially the common one, L hastata. I'd also like to throw in Strobilanthes attentuata (hardy, doesn't mind the rain and blooms in deepest shade) and Dicliptera sericea, a recent discovery (to me) - brilliant orange with silvery foliage, but half-hardy and/or wet-hating I bet.

Robin, I think you left the www. out of your link.

In Britain, does anyone grow other Lepechinias? I am curious about L. salviae and L. lamiifolia, which are supposedly other showy species. Ginny Hunt has bella, and also L. graveolens (hardy in North Carolina, with many small flowers in dense cymes). I have also L. chamaedryoides from Ginny. A new nursery in coastal northern California also has it as a plant.

Put a couple of cartoon eyes on that Calciolaria flower, and you might have a Disney feature cartoon character (think of the genie in Alladin)

Thanks, Rich. I see what appears to be a lot of seeds in the calyces of the Trichostema. I Googled smoke treatment, and found this in a journal entry:

"Trichostema lanatum (Lamiaceae), failed
to germinate unless smoke treatment was coupled with prior treatment of 1 yr soil storage."

Yeesh! I don't have that kind of patience... guess I'll be giving away these seeds, and I'd better not kill the mother plant. ;-)

I think L salviae is supposed to be a synonym for L hastata - at any rate, everything I've ever had under that name has been L hastata. L lamiifolia I have never come across, and I have seed of L graveoloens but have not grown it before. L chamaedryoides is not hardy with me except in especially favourable winters, but it's the wet mainly - it does OK in the greenhouse, and makes a dainty shrub, though the flowers are smaller, mauve and less showy than L hastata. I had the seed from Ginny of another one, the name of which I can't remember, which I liked - the flowers were pale but large and fat, quite unusual, and it survived one winter but not last, which was cold. But L bella is the one, as one might guess from the name!

Some interesting suggestions.

Robin - Glad you like the Calceolaria - a cutting already has your name on it - hope the ink doesn't run.

Lepechinia bella is, without doubt, a lovely plant. I also find L. hastata rather attractive - not overly showy but nevertheless intriguing when given the right placement. It may be a synonym of salviae although the RHS Plantfinder has not yet linked them.

I also grow L. chamedryoides which, surprisingly, came through last winter, albeit weakened to the point that it will probably now not flower this year. A shame, as I rather like its quiet attraction.

voodoobrew - Trichstema lanatum looks interesting but I wonder if this SoCal native would be happy here in Herts/UK?

Rich - your Caryopteris divaricata looks nice - I recognise the flower from the plant Caryopteris à clandonensis (C. incana_x_C. mongholica) - of which the form 'Heavenly Blue' is often found in Garden Centres here in the UK. I don't know Lepechinia lamiifolia - got a link for a pic?

Drusilla - two years ago I sneaked a cutting back from a holiday in the Algarve and subsequently found it to be Dicliptera suberecta. Of the plants I propagated and planted out last year, one survived last winter (in a dry/sheltered spot) and is currently flowering. Is your D. sericea anything like this plant?

Jim

There is a shrub from the southwest that used to be a Dalea (Fabaceae), but is now in a separate genus with silvery slender foliage and deep true blue flowers that looks like it would be very striking in a desert garden.

Yes, Jim, I think it's the same thing - it has been going down the name changes route recently and is now on about its 4th I think! I haven't got it yet but learned today some seeds have just arrived for me so hope to try it - I was sent its photo as a salvia to ID, to which I responded 'It isn't a salvia, but I'll find out what it is, and please may I have some seed!' - which I now have. Am much cheered to hear you grow it as it looks decidedly like something that won't appreciate the British climate!

CA's native Lepechinia fragrans is the best plant for intermixing with salvias that I've used, but Trichstema lanatum isn't far behind.

How about Cashmere "Sage"? See link. This seller just lowered a lot of plants (including salvias) to $1, so I went a little crazy...

Here is a link that might be useful: PHLOMIS CASHMERIANA

It's not a salvia, but it's in the mint family... Hedeoma hyssopifolium.

Here is a link that might be useful: photo, Hedeoma hyssopifolium

Hedeoma hyssopifolia is an American pennyroyal. The western forms can have a minty, anise, or lemony scent. These three chemotypes are also found in other western mint family plants, including Agastache and Monardella, and there are mixed forms as well, with blended scents.

Phlomis cashmeriana (western Himalayas)is a much bigger plant, and grows from a basal rosette. Its cousin from Europe, Phlomis tuberosa, is similar.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1248143}}

Stachys coccinea, Scarlet Hedge Nettle. This grows wild in the wash on my property. Have some in the garden also, but doesn't bloom as long as the wild plants.

I recently bought that Phlomis; it's struggling a bit right now. The seeds for Hedeoma and that Stachys [great picture!) are on my current want list from Southwestern Native Seeds. I do have Stachys a. Hidalgo, which is a nice plant with coral colored flowers.

Currently what I wish there were more of in the trade are Cupheas. The only resemblance to Salvias is that they are loved by hummingbirds. Strybing told me that they will soon be offering many varieties; they didn't put them out for the winter sale, but I saw them blooming in the park.

Lepechinia salviae. I have read that it can grow anywhere from 2 to 7 feet tall. Does anyone know/ have experience with it, so I can decide where to plant it?...

Here is a link that might be useful: L. salviae

That plant in the iGarden page looks a lot more like Lepechinia hastata of Mexico and Hawaii (that's a real disjunct for you). It is hardy in zone 6, as in Edison, New Jersey.

I have L. hastata, and I'm sure that this plant is different. The foliage is not the same. I purchased L. salviae from Potato Rock Nursery in the Mendocino, CA area; it's no longer on their website, so I guess I got one of the last ones! They sell many plants from Chile. Maybe the UK photo below is better... the foliage definitely looks spot on.

Well, I'm just going to assume that it won't get nearly as tall here as it does in its native Chile.

Here is a link that might be useful: L. salviae

Regarding propagation of Trichostema lanatum, I've had seedlings sprout up in my garden under the mother plant and it's also fairly easy to propagate from cuttings. I dunno why it's always a pricey plant to buy.